News
2016-17
New Poems
I’m pleased to say that new poems have just appeared or will appear within the next year in Cherry Tree, The Christian Century, Image Journal, The National Poetry Review, New Ohio Review, Paterson Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, Redheaded Stepchild, Rock & Sling, Ruminate, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Whale Road Review. These and other poems will be included in my next book, entitled Full Worm Moon, for which I’m currently seeking a publisher.
In addition, my poetry will appear in several new anthologies. “Requiem for the Liberal Arts” is included in How Higher Education Feels: Commentaries on Poems That Illuminate Emotions in Learning and Teaching, edited by Kathleen M. Quinlan (Oxford Learning Institute, University of Oxford, UK). My poems “Clifton Gorge,” “The Grass Grows Ordinary,” “Remember Blessing,” and “The Painted Lady and the Thistle,” all in Particular Scandals, will also appear in The Turning Aside: The Kingdom Poets Book of Contemporary Christian Poetry, being edited by D.S. Martin (Wipf & Stock). My poems “This is the landscape left” and “Following the Light” will be published in A Rustling and Waking Within: Poems Inspired by the Arts in Ohio, being edited by Sharon Mooney (OPA). “Clifton Gorge,” “Prufrock in My Backyard,” “The Poet Performs in the Theatre of Cows,” and “Recovery” will appear in From the Tower: Poetry in Honor of Conrad Balliet, edited by Steve Broidy (Main Street Rag Publishing Company). And “Voice” will be reprinted in By One’s Own Hand: Writing About Suicide, being edited by Gayle Brandeis and Ruth Nolan.
2015
Every River on Earth: Writing from Appalachian Ohio Released
In May of 2015, Ohio University Press published editor Neil Carpathios’ book, Every River on Earth, which includes poems, essays, and stories by southern Ohio writers. Two of my poems, “The Poet Performs in the Theatre of Cows” and “A Clear Path,” are included in this book.
2014
Particular Scandals a Must-Read Book of 2014
Dayton.com listed Particular Scandals as one of ten must-read books by Dayton, Ohio authors. It was the only book of poetry to make the list.
Events
Poetry Reading at The Wexner Center for the Arts
I will be joining various Ohio poets on Saturday, March 11, to read from the new anthology A Rustling and Waking Within: Poems Inspired by the Arts in Ohio. The event will be held from 3-5 p.m. at The Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. A reception from 2-3 will precede the reading so that poets and attendees can mingle.
Teaching & Poetry Reading at the 32nd Annual Antioch Writers’ Workshop
I will be the Afternoon Poetry Seminar Instructor at the Antioch Writers’ Workshop from July 8-14, 2017. I will also participate in one of the evening faculty readings that week by reading some poems from my previous books and forthcoming collection, Full Worm Moon. For information on how to register, please visit AWW’s website.
Festival of Faith & Writing, April 14-16, 2016
I presented at the Festival of Faith & Writing with fellow poets Barbara Crooker, Jeff Gundy, and Lynn Domina on Saturday, April 16th. Our panel presentation was titled, “Clouds of Witnesses: How We Write Within Tradition.”
We discussed how relationships with ancestors in the faith combine with work by literary forebears to influence our own poetry and prose. We described the difficulties as well as the advantages of perceiving ourselves as members of a distinct literary tradition and provided specific examples illustrating how Christian texts or traditions have worked alongside other literary models to support, challenge, inspire, or otherwise affect our work. My part focused on Rilke’s influence on my work, especially his admonition to be truthful and sincere and in so doing, avoid the default mechanism of irony. Here’s the link to the festival’s full presentation schedule: http://festival.calvin.edu/media/9725/ffw_2016_schedule2.pdf
Performance of Every River on Earth: Writing from Appalachian Ohio
On On October 16, 2015 in the Kahl Theatre in the Vern Riffe Center of Performing Arts on the campus of Shawnee State, the Shawnee State University Theater students under the direction of the director of the Theater program (John Huston) performed dramatizations/songs/readings from this book, including my poem, “The Poet Performs in the Theatre of Cows.”
If you’re interested in having me read at your school, library, café, arts centre, or event, please feel free to inquire using the contact page on this website.
